I wish mark cuban would buy a team, he creates a lot of buzz himself. He'd draw a lot of attention to the sport and knows how to market very well.

Mark Cuban is a punk. He knows nothing about hockey and would be worse than Baldsilly as an owner.If he had any clue/value he would have been a member of Mario's present ownership group.besides, his net worth is a fraction of what it once was, and he probably couldn't put together a deal to buy an NHL franchise right now (let alone the freaking Cubs).

I wish mark cuban would buy a team, he creates a lot of buzz himself. He'd draw a lot of attention to the sport and knows how to market very well.

Mark Cuban is a punk. He knows nothing about hockey and would be worse than Baldsilly as an owner.If he had any clue/value he would have been a member of Mario's present ownership group.besides, his net worth is a fraction of what it once was, and he probably couldn't put together a deal to buy an NHL franchise right now (let alone the freaking Cubs).

He's all talk. No moxie.

Prior to this year, he has turned the Dallas Mavericks from one of the worst teams in the NBA into one of the top teams in the league. His net worth is around 2.2 Billion. Until this scandel, he was one of the finalist to by the Cubs, which is worth a ton more than any NHL team. And the reason he is not in Lemieux's group is because he wanted control and a larger percentage of ownership, which Mario did not agree to.

I don't like the guy, but you can't dispute the facts.

I lived in Dallas a few years ago for work for about 7 months and everyone loves him down there as an owner, he did everything he could do to make his players happy, not just in terms of contracts, he basically sunk a ton of money into their facilities as a whole. New locker with everything you could want it, new work out rooms, new training rooms. He also did alot for fans in general also. He gave away free tickets to kids. Is he a scumb bad yeah, but he cares about his franshice, thats what you want out of an owner.

While maybe not as crazy as Cuban, i think our ownership is doing a great job, look at Burkle, he is turning into a regular puck head, he sent his private plane down to pick up hossa last year and allowed basically helped Staal out with the same thing when he lost his grandfather. I also believe he showed up at Sid's birthday party this year.

Baldsilly could get a team, he just hasn't because he wants to move it and circumvent NHL rules.

I don't think that Baldsilly is really endearing himself to the Board of Governors though. He's feuded with them, threatened to sue the league, and made up rumors that the Canadiens were for sale. He might get blacklisted from ever owning a team.

Baldsilly could get a team, he just hasn't because he wants to move it and circumvent NHL rules.

At this point, call the man out. Just say that he's a sleezy SOB who is going to move a team to Toronto -- and then let him do it. I know multiple teams who would benefit from the TO market over the craphole they're playing in now...

As for ESPN (as mentioned earlier) Bettman touched on this in the past week or so on the NHL hour. Mostly, that the NHL essentially helped launch espn2 with the hockey coverage, and that ESPN now has all the time for Baseball and Basketball. He's quite happy with VS and NBC -- and to be brutally honest, so am I. I know that VS doesn't get to everyone, but it's expanding. I'm finally able to get it and I love the NHL coverage. The broadcasters aren't the greatest -- I just want to watch the game.

knives of ice wrote:typical uneducated response, even dumber than a person than knows nothing about hockey but doesn't like it.

What does my education have to do with thinking that mixed "martial arts" is lame? Given what passes for martial arts these days, I'd say it's quite an accurate assessment.

The martial arts are not a game.

Isn't the MMA similar to the UFC? If so, I would hardly call it lame. It's like watching a fight in hockey, only it lasts 15 minutes, unless someone gets knocked out before that. The guys that fight in the MMA and UFC are some of the worlds best conditioned athletes. Not to mention that they are trained in almost every style of martial arts. Fighting has to be one of the most physically draining things to do.

I really don't watch either of them but I do respect the people involved. You kinda have to. I wouldn't get in the ring with any one of them.

knives of ice wrote:typical uneducated response, even dumber than a person than knows nothing about hockey but doesn't like it.

What does my education have to do with thinking that mixed "martial arts" is lame? Given what passes for martial arts these days, I'd say it's quite an accurate assessment.

The martial arts are not a game.

Isn't the MMA similar to the UFC? If so, I would hardly call it lame. It's like watching a fight in hockey, only it lasts 15 minutes, unless someone gets knocked out before that. The guys that fight in the MMA and UFC are some of the worlds best conditioned athletes. Not to mention that they are trained in almost every style of martial arts. Fighting has to be one of the most physically draining things to do.

I really don't watch either of them but I do respect the people involved. You kinda have to. I wouldn't get in the ring with any one of them.

Without speaking towards whether anyone has to respect them, calling what goes on in "MMA" a "martial art" is lame.

Well I understand your point. The thing with that sport is that its a free for all. Most of the time, no M.A. skill(s) are even used. A lot of the fighters try to get the fight to the ground and use wrestling techniques to win. I do agree that the M.A. part of the game is lame. I dont really think the whole sport is. Now that I think about it, what is the difference between the UFC and the MMA? Anyone know?

Vs. – The announcing team has a hard time getting a suit on top of their Flyers jerseys

NBC – Zero post game. For any casual fan watching a Sunday game there is almost no time spent breaking down a game to explain call etc..

I’d like to see at least some better highlights on ESPN.

Both the NHL and ESPN I feel are dug in right now. ESPN will continue to exclude hockey wherever possible for daring to reach an audience without them.

I think the answer is NHL Central Ice getting cheaper and building a fan base that way. The NHL needs to be in a situation where ESPN needs them back because they missing out on revenue from a sport growing in popularity.

The NHL was bombing on ESPN when they were dropped. What's different now in the league? The shootout? Scores are still way down, many of the games are still way boring, and there are too many GD ties. Sure, there are a few good crops of young players recently. But it's still not enough to overcome the NHL's self-inflicted problems. It's not an attractive product right now, so it will stay on 2nd rate cable. Let's talk again in 3 years.